Re: [PATCH] watchdog: allow WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL=y

[Dmitry Voytik]

Hi Guenter,

Thanks for reviewing the patch!

On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 8:21 PM Guenter Roeck <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On 10/4/26 14:37, Dmitry Voytik wrote:
> > Fix the issue when WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL can't be set to =y,
> > and always is =m.
> >
> > The issues can be reproduced with the following steps:
> >       make mrproper
> >       make defconfig
> >       ./scripts/config \
> >         -e WATCHDOG_CORE \
> >         -e WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV \
> >         -e WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL \
> >         --refresh
> >       make olddefconfig
> >       make mod2yesconfig
> >
> >       grep '=m$' .config
> > returns only CONFIG_WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL as module:
> >       CONFIG_WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL=m
> >
> > "make menuconfig" doesn't let it to be switched from =m to =y either.
> >
>
> This does not explain what the problem actually is that is supposed
> to be solved with this patch. Since this is just a selector used to
> enable other configurations, and the configuration option does not
> result in any packages built, "WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL can't be
> set to =y" on its own is not a problem.

The issue is that
  make mod2yesconfig
doesn't work as expected. Help says "Change answers from mod to yes if
possible".
I might have misunderstood it, but I thought all configs should be =y
for this make target.

Maybe a dumb question, but why does only this config have " default m"
and others use
"default WATCHDOG_CORE"? Does it have some special meaning with "default m"?

I want to have no modules and still not disable the module load
ability, and it annoys me
that some configs don't allow "=y" :-) otherwise when I do
 grep '=m$' .config
I need to remember that CONFIG_WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL is a special case.

FYI, for Arch Linux based config, only
CONFIG_WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL pops up with =m.
A fix for the same issue with CONFIG_TDX_HOST_SERVICES seems to be accepted:
https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/as04AoNxjzlvh-K8@thinkstation/

Thanks again!

> Guenter

Best Regards,
Dmitry Voytik.